Outlander UKReview

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Hellboy, Jesus and The Elephant Man fight an alien - what's not to like?

By Chris Tilly

As high-concepts go, Outlander is a doozy - spaceman becomes stranded in a Viking land with an alien in hot pursuit. Yet in spite of such a ridiculous premise, the film actually works, resulting in something of a sci-fi gem.

Jim Caviezel plays Kainan, a human warrior from a faraway world, whose spacecraft crash lands in the Viking territory of Herot in 709 A.D. Soon captured by the locals, he stumbles into a bloody war between King Rothgar (John Hurt) and King Gunnar (Ron Perlman), while at the same time falling for the womanly charms of Rothgar's daughter Freya.

So far, so period romp, but Kainan is harbouring a pretty big secret - deadly alien creature the Moorwen had accompanied him to earth, and is hell-bent on avenging the acts of Kainan's army on his home planet.

Outlander's sumptuous visuals belie its relatively low-budget.

What follows is a marvellously silly action epic as Kainan teams up with the Viking warriors to fight his deadly nemesis. Writer-director Howard McCain, who makes his feature debut with the flick, helms proceedings like a man who truly knows his genre classics. The pace is fast, the action bloody, and the influence of the likes of Alien, Predator and The Thing can be felt throughout, with a healthy slice of Beowulf thrown in for good measure.

The cast also helps raise the film above the level of the average genre effort, with the likes of Hurt and Perlman hurling themselves headfirst into the roles of Viking warriors, and clearly loving every minute of it. The usually rather dull Caviezel is also well-cast as the spaceman, with his still, calm demeanour lending the character a genuine otherworldly quality. But it's Sophia Myles who steals the show, her performance as beautiful but ballsy Viking girl Freya giving the boys a run for their money in the action stakes.

The Outlander trailer.

But a film like this lives or dies by the quality of its creature, and in this respect, Outlander has created something of a classic. Lit by beautiful bioluminescent light, the Moorwen is a smart, sleek killing machine, able to run, climb and swim faster than its human prey. Yet as well as being a deadly monster, the creatures possesses a genuine personality, and as the reasons for its bloodlust are revealed, you actually find yourself feeling sympathy for it, which is no mean feat.

If I have one criticism, it's that the film somewhat outstays its welcome, running for 114 minutes when 90 minutes of Viking/alien action would probably have sufficed. But that's a minor quibble against what is an excellent creature feature. A B movie in the best sense of the word, Outlander could teach many of the so-called summer blockbusters a thing or two about character, story and performance, and for that reason we predict this will become a future cult classic.